ABSTRACT

The star α Carinae, named for the chief pilot of the fleet of Menelaos, who died in Egypt c. 1193 BC on the return from the Trojan War, the star being prominent at the time. It is the second brightest star, having an apparent magnitude of −0.62. It is a cream giant, spectral type F0Ib, at a distance of 326 light-years; its parallax is 0.010'', and it has an absolute magnitude of −5.6.